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Friday, March 18, 2011

Small Bouquet

Today I played with edges until nothing worked and then I was really cranky and just wanted to get a showable painting, to hell with the fun. In this one, I am pleased to say I managed not to overwork the pear blossoms (very small white bits). Also, I was encouraged by my stumbling on a perfect almost invisible grey in my last flower painting and I worked it out again today to imprint it on my brain before I forget it. But of course, it was all different this time.

7 comments:

Jean, I love the subtle shift in colors here, the edges throughout are wonderful. Referring to your comment about mixing the invisible grey, In the past I've attempted painting color charts, but that became to rigid for me. However, last summer I had an extra moleskine that I began painting color swatches in, each page is labeled with the name of the painting, it's been a very handy reference for me and I really like that everything is bound in one book.

Thanks, you guys....kind comments.Virginia, that gray is, as Carol Marine says through slightly gritted teeth, yellow, red and blue, plus white. I asked the question a hundred times in the workshop I took with her, and now I believe it. But those grays are so hard to mix because with even the smallest increment of too much of any of the primaries, the gray goes off in the wrong direction. The experience is like herding cats. I think I have done better with mixing grays since I painted the back of my glass palette with gray gesso. I really like it, because I can see better what I have. Not that I can still always get the gray right, but it is definitely easier than when working on a white background.Sandy, thanks for that gravy comment.And Angela, that is a great idea about the bound color chart. I tremble when I think of devoting the great amount of time necessary to doing it, but maybe I could make it a project that happens after painting time (mornings, usually) and sort of de-toxify the whole idea. Can you recommend a chart to follow?

Love your comment about not caring if you have fun,just want to paint something presentable. Here! Here! there are days like that, we just need to get through them. My granddaughter taught me how to make the boxes and 're right, they are fun and you were clever to use them in your wonderful radish series.

About Me

My painting life has gradually shifted from abstract expressionism to realism, and in February, 2010 I began this daily painting art blog. The object has been to sharpen my skills and loosen up, also to have some fun exploring new ideas and subject matter. I welcome your comments and suggestions. There is more and different work on my web site, jeantownsend.com. Thanks for stopping by.